India’s star cricketer and Mumbai Indians former captain Rohit Sharma on Thursday finally opened on why MI’s captainship was given to Hardik Pandya before the beginning of IPL 2024. 

Rohit Sharma acknowledged  this by saying that not everything goes your way. Being removed from Mumbai’s captaincy was a shock to many in the cricket world and a bitter pill to swallow for Rohit’s horde of fans, many of whom also booed Hardik during the team’s opening games this IPL season.

The roles of Hardik and Rohit Sharma will be switched during the T20 World Cup, which will begin on June 2. As part of MI’s significant leadership transition, which has not gone as expected, Rohit is currently playing under Hardik. He will return as Pandya’s captain for the crucial ICC match. For the majority of his career, Rohit has served as Hardik’s captain and senior, but the events of the last month and the upcoming 30 days threaten to alter the relationship.

Rohit emphasized, but not in a bad way, describing how playing under Hardik before returning to captain him would not throw off the rhythm. He also said, it is part of life. When questioned by the media about his experience playing in the ongoing Indian Premier League under Pandya, the Indian captain responded, it has been a great experience.

The 37-year-old received criticism for not scoring enough runs with the willow in the preceding three seasons, but in the competition’s 17th edition, he had an entirely different appearance. Whatever is there and you go by it and then try and do what is required from you as a player. He said he has only tried to do that in the last one month. In 10 IPL 2024 innings, India’s skipper Rohit has already scored 314 runs.

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan has a special message for the Indian cricket team who are getting ready to play the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The legendary actor shared a video in which he assumed the role of Ashwatthama, his character from the upcoming film, Kalki 2898 AD, and motivated the players of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The video was shared by the official social media accounts of the Nag Ashwin film, Kalki 2898 AD and began with Amitabh Bachchan announcing, Ye mahayudh hai, ab hoja tu taiyaar (This is a war, get ready for it). Through his poetry, the megastar tried to pump up the players as he said, Ab ban ja veer, buland kar le apni taqdeer, dikha dum, laga dum (Now, become brave, elevate your destiny, show your strength, put in effort). The video has gone viral on social media with 87,505 likes till now which are only increasing.

As the Bollywood star narrated the poem with the background music of Kalki 2898 AD playing, visuals of the Indian cricket team played on the screen. Players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, were seen along with former players like Harbhajan Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrating their victory on the cricket ground in the viral video.

In the end of the video the actor concluded with Maan mat tu jeet se kam, garv se uthe har matha, ye mahadwand hai, mahayudh, virodhi se tu nazrein mila, ab hoja tu taiyaar (Do not belittle yourself in front of victory, let every head rise with pride, this is a great struggle, a great battle, meet the opponent eye to eye, now get ready).

The video was shared with the caption, T20WorldCup2024 ka Shankhnaad ho chuka hai! @amitabhbachchan, #TeamIndia’s biggest cheerleader, has a special message. Star Sports lekar aaye hain yeh T20 World Cup ka Mahayudh! Are you Ready?

Some superb bowling effort by the Punjab Kings along with a comfortable 163-run chase took Chennai Super Kings to victory by 7 wickets at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. After electing to bowl on a red-soil pitch, Sam Curran’s men put Chennai Super Kings on a stranghlehold, capitalising the middle-overs where they only conceded 56 runs.

Spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar picked up 4 important wickets as they conceded 33 runs in 8 overs. In reply, quick knocks from Rilee Rossouw and Jonny Bairstow lightened the load on the middle-order as Punjab Kings afflicted a 5th consecutive loss for Chennai Super Kings in their head-to-head encounters. Sam Curran and Shashank Singh took the team over the line with 2 overs to spare.

Ruturaj Gaikwad played a fighting knock of 62-runs to take Chennai Super Kings to a challenging score of 162/7 in 20 overs. After winning the Player of the Match award for his exceptional bowling, Harpreet Brar expressed his satisfaction with the game and pitch conditions. He credited his partnership with Rahul Chahar and emphasized the importance bowling dot balls repeatedly to build pressure on the opposite team.

Punjab Kings captain, Sam Curran, expressed his immense joy over the victory in Chennai and emphasized the win will boost team’s confidence. He noted the gradual improvement in his performance and highlighted the threat they pose as PBKS move towards the end of the tournament.

Rilee Rossouw commended the bowlers for containing Chennai to 160 runs. He acknowledged Jonny Bairstow’s strong start and lauded Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar for their dominating performance in the middle overs. Chennai Super Kings decision to bat first backfired as the Punjab spinners tore down the CSK top batting order, with Gaikwad standing strong amidst a flurry of wickets. Despite brief sparks from Ali and Dhoni, Chennai’s total remained modest which allowed Punjab Kings to comfortably chase down the target.